MIA
by super ario
Summary: Hank keeps telling himself not to worry.


I don't know why it took me this long to post this, since it's just been sitting in my documents. I'm really shocked (and maybe a little disappointed) at the lack of post-'Medusa' stories out here. But I decided to just give you all my own. I've also got another one that takes the whole scuba incident a little AU, but for some reason my brain doesn't want to produce words, so we'll see how long that takes. But this is just a little, very much pointless tag for the episode, at the very end, when Hank gets on the jet and realizes that Evan is not there. Enjoy.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Hank, Evan, that nice flight attendant (which by the way, I had to guess on her name), Boris, Divya, Cuba or anything else mentioned in this story that you recognize. And especially not Hank's replacement doc. I wouldn't want to own her even if I had the chance.

* * *

It's not the first time Evan R. Lawson's been late for something, so when he doesn't show up in the jet (and it really is a _jet_ - calling it a plane would be both wrong and disrespectful) Hank's not at all surprised. Or worried. What's a few minutes? Of course, he wishes his brother could have for once made it on time but that might be expecting too much, and he knows it. Which is why he's not worried in the slightest.

Besides, it's not like his brother's location is a mystery or anything. Heck, he's probably on his way over right now. Or he will be in a few minutes, when he sees the time. So, yeah. There is no real reason to worry. He knows exactly what his brother is doing. He's taking advantage of the little time left they have in this exotic place. Hank can't help but smile to himself, as he leans back in his lambskin seat. Despite almost cracking his head open, his brother really seemed to be enjoying this surprise trip to Cuba. He'd found himself a girl (she was Canadian) and they'd had a pretty meaningful "vacationship", whatever the hell that meant. The lush tropical plants and endless supply of mojitos was just an added bonus - of course, the mojitos only came after Hank deemed it safe, what with his head injury and all. And in the end, Hank knows his little brother does not want to leave. He wants to stay on this island forever. Well, maybe not _forever_, but definately longer than planned.

The last time he'd even _seen _his brother, was when he was ordering him to get dressed. Regardless of how nice a time they'd had, it was really time to head back home, to help Divya and possibly meet that new doctor that Boris had hired as his temporary replacement. But his brother had taken his phone in a last vain attempt to score himself some montecristos (although he explained that he wasn't the one they were for - they were for HankMed clients). Hank didn't really like the idea, because doctors do need phones afterall, but Evan promised to get him a new one as soon as they got home, and it wasn't like he'd really put up a fight anyway. A quick, "I love you. Don't let Boris leave without me!" from his half-naked brother and he was gone.

So it's not like he should be worried. Right? It's only been what, like, five or six minutes of a wait? That's nothing. How long could it possibly take to trade some cigars? Unless his brother had broken a leg on the way there, or something, it really shouldn't take much longer. The time will go by quickly enough, and soon he and his brother will be on their way back to the Hamptons.

And Hank is right. The time surely does go by quickly.

Except there's still one thing wrong. His brother is _still_ nowhere in sight. He still isn't worried - it's only been about twenty minutes, mind you - but that doesn't mean he isn't annoyed. He probably has every right to be. Or maybe he's just feeling a little sympathetic for the people that Evan's keeping waiting - the pilot, the nice flight attendant who keeps offering him things. He almost wishes he could just apologize and give the pilot an ok-go to take off _without_ his brother. But regardless of how eager Hank is to get home, he knows he cannot leave without him, and surely Boris would not appreciate leaving the younger Lawson behind, at his hacienda. The worst part of it all is that Hank has no way of reaching him. But it's nothing to worry about. The worst case scenario Hank can think of is that his brother lost his way back, or maybe had bumped into his friend Mindy and wanted to have a quick chat with her before he left. No biggie. And it's not like he should be taking much longer, anyway.

But then, as he's been sitting numb for around forty-five minutes, Hank wonders why he could of ever thought something so stupid. This isn't just anyone he's talking about, this is his little _brother_. He wonders if maybe Evan decided to run away with Mindy, to Canada, or maybe decided to try diving again with a goal of not acquiring a head injury. But no, that's stupid. He might have stopped to talk for a few minutes but he wouldn't keep his brother waiting for almost an hour. Not even _Evan_ is that irresponsible. So what could it be? Hank really isn't sure. He doesn't even know if he should be more angry or worried, because if Evan decides to show up right about now, Hank might have a tough time not smacking his brother around. He really doesn't want to - and especially not with a gaping hole already in his head - but the wait is just infuriating. He might as well have dressed Evan himself, and carried him onto the jet and tied him up so he would sit still for the flight. And yes, Hank knows that's a little drastic and he knows all he would hear is whining, but if it's what he has to do then it's what he has to do. And what he _should_ have done. And what he will surely do next time.

Because he's ready to go home and everyone is waiting, and Boris is probably wondering why he isn't long gone, and his brother _still_ isn't here. He just keeps glancing at his watch and adding up the minutes and momentarily contemplates getting off this damn plane and just go looking for his brother himself because it doesn't look like Evan even knows what he's doing. And it doesn't seem like Evan even has the time because if he'd seen it, he surely would have come back already. Or maybe he saw the time and was afraid that Hank would beat him to a pulp and didn't want to come take that chance. Or maybe he'd seen the time and figured Hank wouldn't have waited that long for him and just left. The thought makes Hank even angrier. He really hopes for Evan's sake that he doesn't have a single drop of belief in him that his older brother would actually abandon him. If Hank wanted to abandon Evan - which he obviously doesn't, because it's been like an _hour_ and he's still waiting - he would have done it a long time ago. So there's no way Evan should or could think that.

So _why_ hadn't he shown up?

Maybe he stopped to get some food for them, but got too hungry and just ate it himself and lost track of time. No, that's stupid. There's plenty of snacks on the plane. Evan knows that. So maybe he just misheard his brother and thinks they're not due to leave yet. But that's stupid too, because Evan _knows_ they should be thousands of feet in the air right now. So maybe he'd gotten caught with the cigars and arrested or something? That's...not as stupid as the other ideas, but it's not something Hank is really worried about. So where the hell is his brother? It's not until a voice startles him out of his thoughts when he realizes he's starting to get panicky.

"Another glass of water, Dr. Lawson?"

Hank turns to find the owner of the voice and winces. It's the flight attendant again. She's dressed in her uniform, and she's still got the little hat on, and she's still forcing herself to smile like she actually enjoys doing her job. But that much can't be said about Hank, who is trying his best to stop scowling and just answer the damn question.

"No, thank you, Raya. I'm fine."

She nods but she doesn't even take a step away. "Can I get you anything else?"

His brother, maybe, would be nice. Or a glass of wine. But he knows that's asking her too much and he doesn't think drinking right now would be a good idea anyway because there's still hope that Evan is going to show up any second and there is no need to drink the worry away. Besides, there _is_ no reason to worry - he keeps trying to reassure himself - because his brother is fine and making his way towards the jet right this very minute. But in reality, there's nothing she could get him other than Evan to make him feel better, so they can just get on with their lives, and really he doesn't want to be rude but he's a little tired of her asking. So he just repeats the "No, thank you." and looks away so she gets the picture. And she does.

He looks out the window and watches as his breath fogs the glass. He can see the wind nipping lightly at the trees but the rest of the world appears to be still, the time stopped. Something's not right. Obviously. Because his little brother is MIA in _Cuba_ and they should be on their way back to _New York _and he doesn't know how much longer they're willing to wait, and his stomach is churning something nasty because he just _knows_ that something's not right and when his gut says something's not right, Hank knows to trust it. So _screw_ whatever he ever thought before.

Yeah, he's worried.


End file.
